The present invention concerns heart-monitoring devices and methods, particularly implantable defibrillators, pacemakers, and cardioverters, and methods for processing heart-signal data.
Since the early 1980s, thousands of patients prone to irregular and sometimes life threatening heart rhythms have had miniature heart-monitoring devices, such as defibrillators, pacemakers, and cardioverters, implanted in their bodies. These devices detect onset of abnormal heart rhythms and automatically apply corrective electrical therapy, specifically one or more bursts of electric current, to their hearts. When the bursts of electric current are properly sized and timed, they restore normal heart function without human intervention, sparing patients considerable discomfort and often saving their lives.
The typical implantable heart-monitoring device includes a set of electrical leads, which extend from a sealed housing through the veinous system into the inner walls of a heart after implantation. Within the housing are a battery for supplying power, a capacitor for delivering bursts of electric current through the leads to the heart, and heart-monitoring circuitry for monitoring the heart and determining not only when and where to apply the current bursts but also their number and magnitude.
The monitoring circuitry generally includes a microprocessor and a memory that stores a computer program. The computer program, or more generally the signal-processing algorithm, instructs the microprocessor how to interpret electrical signals that naturally occur during expansion and contraction of a heart muscle. The algorithm also instructs the processor what, if any, electrical therapy should be given to correct abnormal heart rhythms.
In general, these algorithms are either too complex or too simple. Complex algorithms require considerable processing time and power to implement. Greater processing time generally lengthens device response time, and greater power requirements generally shorten the lifespan of the batteries in these devices. Simple algorithms, though faster and less-power-hungry, are often less accurate in interpreting heart electrical signals, leading devices to overlook some heart conditions, to apply unnecessary electrical therapy, or to apply the wrong type of therapy.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for algorithms that are not only energy-efficient, but also highly accurate in diagnosing and treating abnormal heart rhythms.
To address this and other needs, the inventor has devised new methods for processing heart electrical signals and selecting appropriate therapy options. An exemplary embodiment of the method computes three statisticsxe2x80x94a range statistic, a minimum interval statistic, and a dispersion indexxe2x80x94from a set of atrial depolarization intervals, which indicate the time between successive depolarizations in the atria of a heart. More particularly, after rejecting the two shortest and two longest intervals, the exemplary embodiment defines the range statistic as the difference between a first and last one of the remaining intervals, the minimum interval as the smallest of the remaining intervals, and the dispersion index as the standard deviation of the remaining intervals.
The exemplary embodiment then uses the three statistics to compute a number, which the inventor calls an interval dispersion assessment (IDA), to quantify the current rhythmic state of a heart. If this number is greater than a threshold value, typically experimentally determined, the exemplary embodiment interprets the current rhythmic state of the heart as, for example, an atrial or ventricular fibrillation. On the other hand, if the number is less than the threshold value, the exemplary embodiment interprets the rhythmic state as an atrial flutter or ventricular tachycardia.
Other exemplary methods use the three statistics to define a point in a three-dimensional space. The space is defined by three axes which correspond to the three statistics, making it possible to plot the xe2x80x9cpositionxe2x80x9d of the point in the space. These methods also define a surface, for example, a plane in the space, based on a set of values for the three statistics. The set of values are determined using a threshold value as a constraint. Position of the point above or below the surface can then be used to identify a rhythmic state corresponding to the point as, for example, an atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation or as a ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.
Ultimately, the exemplary method and other methods embodying teachings of the present invention can be incorporated into medical devices, for example, pacemakers, defibrillators, or cardioverter defibrillators, to identify and treat abnormal rhythmic conditions both efficiently and accurately.